Month: July 2018

Our Village Board authorized the purchase of five new automated speed signs for our Village at Monday’s regular meeting of the Croton Board of Trustees. These automated signs, which display the speed of passing vehicles, are a cost-effective way to protect the lives and limbs of residents and visitors of our Village.

Both common sense and Federal Highway Administration research has found that these signs reduce speeding and accidents.

We regularly receive complaints from residents about speeding in our community. However, the reality is that our police force cannot be everywhere at all times. But we can use technology as a force multiplier to help extend the reach of the long arm of the law.

Curbing speeding is essential to pedestrian safety.

A car traveling at 45 mph is likely to kill anyone that it strikes, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. But if the speed is reduced by just 10 mph, a barely imperceptible speed reduction from the driver’s perspective, the chances of being killed plummet–about half of all elderly pedestrians would survive and the chances of a 30-year-old are reduced to 1 in 4.

These signs are just one step in a process. Our Village Board will continue to work with the Bicycle Pedestrian Committee, the Police Department, School District and members of the community to make our streets safer for all.

Dear neighbor, Here is the 412th installment of Decoding Village Agendas to keep Croton residents informed of the actions of the Village Board at their meetings. I continue to add recipients to this email update on agendas so you may be receiving it for the first time. I enjoy getting your feedback and hope to continue to hear from you. If you do not wish to receive these periodic email updates from me, please reply to this email and your name will be removed from the email list.

Ann Gallelli

Decoding Village Agendas – July 23, 2018

Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees

8:00 pm

(Open to Public – Televised)

PRESENTATION/OTHER: Jay Peltz, General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Government Relations from the Food Industry Alliance of New York State, Inc., addresses the Board on the proposed plastic bag ban. A Q&A Session will follow.

CORRESPONDENCE:

Letter from Deb Milano, Director of the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce, regarding the annual scarecrow contest. Ms. Milone is requesting permission for a second year of the Scarecrow contest that was initiated last year. Scarecrows made by individuals, families, clubs, classes, etc. can be entered. They would be placed on lamp poles throughout the Village during the month of October. Winners would be announced at the Goblin Parade on October 27.

PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS:

Consider renewal of a special permit for Smoke Town Discount, located at 50A Maple Street. This action was considered and postponed at the previous Board meeting. The renewal is for a one-year permit.

Consider approving the employment agreement between the Village and the Village Manager for a term of three years beginning August 11, 2018 and authorizing the Mayor to sign the agreement on behalf of the Board of Trustees. The Board requested further review of the contract by Labor Counsel and the NYS Conference of Mayors Counsel at its last meeting. The contract utilizes the same language as previous contracts for the position with some minor changes pertaining to severance and car use.

Consider authorizing the Village Treasurer to amend the 2018-19 General Fund Budget with respect to insurance recovery funds received. This is budgetary housekeeping with respect to receipt of insurance monies for a storm-damaged fence at the new DPW building.

Consider authorizing the Village Treasurer to amend the 2017-18 General Fund Budget with respect to grant funding received to cover the costs of the Croton Coalition. The Village manages the federal grant money received each year by the Croton Coalition. This authorizes the distribution of $113,799.81 of that money for the payment of Coalition expenses.

Consider scheduling a public hearing for August 6, 2018 at 8 PM in the Stanley H. Kellerhouse Municipal Building Meeting Room for the purposes of adopting Local Law Introductory No. 6 to amend Chapter 172 of the Village Code, Peddling & Soliciting. The proposed amended Soliciting Law updates the licensing requirements as it applies to commercial soliciting in the Village. Exact requirements as to information that must be provided to the Village Clerk is included. The proposed law also makes the Village Manager responsible for decisions on sales of food items in Village Parks.

Consider authorizing the Village Treasurer to make an interfund transfer in the General Fund in the amount of $15,896.03 for the purpose of purchasing speed signs. The Police Dept. has requested more electronic speed signs to add to their speed control efforts. The Village has two currently. Two more would be purchased along with a software program that would enable them to download and utilize the resulting speed reports. This was not anticipated in the budget so the request is to transfer the funds from the Contingency account.

Consider authorizing the Village Treasurer to make an interfund transfer in the General Fund in the amount of $3,200.00 for costs associated with the planned Multi-Cultural Festival on September 29, 2018. The Village would like to host a multi-cultural event which would include music, dancing and food. The proposed transfer of funds would cover the police and DPW overtime anticipated.

Consider authorizing the Village Treasurer to make an interfund transfer in the General Fund in the amount of $1,600.00 for the purpose of covering Fire Department training expenses. The funds will cover six nights of training costs for volunteer firefighters. This cost was not previously included in the approved budget of the Fire Dept.

Consider authorizing the Village Manager to sign a proposal from RAN Fire Protection Engineering for construction of a fire suppression system in the new DPW Garage at a cost of $23,500.00. The Town is requiring a fire suppression system that was not previously expected for the building. Three companies were contacted for pricing and two responded. RAN is the recommendation of DPW Superintendent Balbi.

Consider authorizing the Village Manager to sign the revised proposal from LynStaar Engineering in the amount of $18,250.00 for Phase II of the Nordica Drive Sewerage Pump Station project. Lynn Staar had previously done design work for this project. Village Engineer O’Connor has recommended that they provide updated design work for the second phase of this project.

Consider authorizing the Village Manager to accept a proposal from TCS Communications Corp. at a cost of $7,495.00 to conduct a radio path study for the Village SCADA System. The SCADA system relies on a radio transmission signal for its operation. A radio path study must be performed in order to confirm that the system will operate correctly once the Department of Public Works is relocated to the new facility.

Consider authorizing the Village Manager to sign a change order with Con-Tech Construction in the amount of $76,517.11 for the removal of contaminated soil from Elliott Way. The original contract with Con-Tech approved in March 2017, was short of actual costs largely due to contaminated soil removal that was not anticipated.

Consider appointment of Jeremy Davis to the position of Police Officer in the Croton-on-Hudson Police Department at an annual salary of $63,048.28, pending approval of the Westchester County Dept. of Human Resources. Chief Harper recommends Mr. David to fill one of the two open Police Officer positions in the Department.

Dear neighbor, Here is the 410th installment of Decoding Village Agendas to keep Croton residents informed of the actions of the Village Board at their meetings. I continue to add recipients to this email update on agendas so you may be receiving it for the first time. I enjoy getting your feedback and hope to continue to hear from you. If you do not wish to receive these periodic email updates from me, please reply to this email and your name will be removed from the email list.

Ann Gallelli

Decoding Village Agendas – July 9, 2018

Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees

8:00 pm

(Open to Public – Televised)

PRESENTATION/OTHER:

Lindsay Audin, Chair of the Sustainability Committee, provides an update on Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). Mr. Audin will talk about the upcoming bidding on a new contract and how the Village might use this negotiation to require the successful bidder to purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) which would result in government operations being carbon neutral.

PUBLIC HEARING: Public hearing on the special permit renewal of Smoke Town Discount, located at 50A Maple Street. The Smoke Shop had a one-year special permit. The Planning Board reviewed their application for renewal and found nothing different from a year ago when they recommended approval. They are recommending a one-year renewal.

CORRESPONDENCE:

Email from John Munson, Acting 1st Assistant Chief of the Croton-on-Hudson Fire Department, regarding the election for Acting 2nd Assistant Chief. In a special election, Phil Dinkler was elected as Acting 2nd Assistant Chief through 2018.

Letter from Hollis Anzani, President of the Croton Caring Committee, announcing their new executive director. Ms. Anzani announces that the Croton Caring Committee has selected Carrie Sena as their new Executive Director. They look forward to meeting with the Village Board in the near future to discuss their plans.

Letter from Dr. Sandra Kolk and Mr. Michael Kolk regarding the special permit renewal at 50A Maple Street. Dr. and Mr. Kolk write to express their opposition to the renewal of the special permit for the Smoke Shop.

Letter from Dr. Greg Schmidt, President of the Croton Rotary Club, requesting use of Lot F at the Croton-Harmon Train Station on September 23, 2018 for the annual Rotary Club Car Show. The Rotary Club has held their car show in this location for many years and wish to utilize this area again.

Adopted Resolution from the Planning Board regarding an illegal retaining wall located on the property of 3 Arrowcrest Drive. The Planning Board, as p art of its adoption of this resolution, required that it be sent to the Village Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Village Attorney and Village Prosecutor. The resolution refers to long running efforts (since 2006) by the Board and the Village to resolve an unpermitted wall of 15 feet or more at a private residence on Arrowcrest Drive. The owner, approximately 4 years ago, sought a variance from the Zoning Board for this wall. The Zoning Board, in turn, required that it’s variance would depend on the Planning Board determining that it was satisfied with the wall’s safety which, by this resolution, they have not found to be the case due to failure of the applicant to provide sufficient and satisfactory documentation. The Village Board will need to determine how to move forward with this situation.

PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS:

Consider adoption of a resolution to signify the intent of the Village to participate in the Waste/Recycling shared service program as proposed by Sustainable Westchester and described in the documentation submitted to the Board, subject to the final review of the service agreement. This program would have the potential to save time for DPW staff in responding to waste and recycling calls. Information for all 42 members of Sustainable Westchester would be available in one place.

Consider approving the employment agreement between the Village and the Village Manager for a term of three years beginning August 11, 2018 and authorizing the Mayor to sign the agreement on behalf of the Board of Trustees. The proposed three-year contract sets the salary at $170,000.

Consider authorizing the Village Manager to sign the proposal from Chazen Companies to complete design work for the Washington Engine roof replacement project in the amount of $9,870.00. Chazen would produce the final design documents for this project so that it can bid.

Consider ratification of the signed proposal from WSG for a new VMware Server in the amount of $19,981.00. The new server will address space and memory issues.

Consider authorizing the Village Manager to sign Amendment B to the New York State DOT Municipal Snow and Ice Agreement to provide for an index adjustment of $18,931.41 due to the severity of the 2017-18 winter. The Village will be receiving $38,133.49 for its snow and ice removal instead of the original estimate of $19,202.08.

Consider authorizing the Village Manager to accept the proposal from Provident Design Engineering for an amount not to exceed $49,000.00 for construction services associated with the Croton-Harmon Train Station parking lot. Provident has previously been engaged to do conceptual design documents. This resolution would authorize them to perform final design drawings, necessary permitting documents, and construction documents for bidding purposes. This work relates to the redevelopment of the current DPW location at the train station.

Consider adoption of a resolution requesting the New York State Department of Environment Conservation modify the compressor station technology and emission regulations affecting natural gas infrastructure facilities. The resolution which has been adopted by the Town of Cortlandt, Pleasantville and numerous other Westchester municipalities, calls for more stringent performance requirements by the NYSDEC for these facilities and enumerates over 12 steps which, if adopted, would further the safety and welfare of residents. If adopted it would also be sent to the Governor, State Senator Murphy and State Assemblyperson Galef.

Consider authorizing the Village Manager to sign an agreement with Verizon New York Inc. to resolve any disputes regarding the Gross Receipts Tax up to March 31, 2018 in the amount of $4,000.00. In 2016, the Village hired a consultant to determine if Verizon was complying with the Gross Receipts tax. As a result, under this agreement, Verizon will be reimbursing the Village $4,000.

With the first real heat wave of the summer, it’s worth reviewing what we as individuals can do to reduce energy consumption, avoid blackouts and brownouts and save money.

Keep blinds and curtains drawn to keep your home cool.
Avoid “vampire loads” by unplugging electronics when you are done.
Run major appliances (e.g. washing machines) in off-hours of the morning or evening.

These tips and more can be found on ConEd.com under the “Saving Energy & Money” tab.

If you are interested in a permanent boost to your home’s energy efficiency, please consider participating in the Energize program. When your home is not properly insulated you are wasting energy and money when using air conditioning on a hot day. Join your neighbors in making your home more energy efficient and comfortable. Energize NY​ ​arranges for free or reduced cost Home Energy Assessments, helps homeowners find a​ vetted​ energy efficiency contractor and guides them through the upgrade process.

​The Village has partnered with Energize for many years to help residents cut their energy consumption.​ ​​Energize has prevented ​over ​114,000 tons in CO2 emissions, resulted in annual energy savings of​ more than​ 731,125 kilowatt-hours (the typical US home consumes about 10,800 kWh annually) and saves homeowners millions of dollars a year in energy costs.

​Interested residents can​ learn more about Energize by visiting the Village Sustainability Committee’s website (sustain-croton.org​)​​ or reach out to Energize directly at 914-302-7300 ext. 8102 to discuss getting an energy audit for their home.​

Brian Pugh

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